CasalgrandeCeramic Crown

Casalgrande Ceramic CrownThe Crown, an installation commissioned and created by Casalgrande Padana to a
design by Daniel Libeskind, was inaugurated on 17 October 2015 on the Dinazzano
roundabout at the Casalgrande-Sassuolo junction

The Crown is a spectacular new landmark that follows on from the famous
Casalgrande Ceramic Cloud, the first work created by Japanese master Kengo
Kuma in Italy.

Installed near to the Casalgrande Padana production facility on two roundabouts
situated on the Pedemontana route linking Casalgrande and Sassuolo, the two
installations make up a monumental structure of notable architectural merit and
symbolic value, creating a sort of “East Access Door” to the Emilian ceramics district.
Once again, the project was entrusted to one of the star names in the modern
architectural panorama: Daniel Libeskind. A well-known figure all around the world,
Libeskind has been involved in a fruitful collaboration with Casalgrande for some
time now, which sees the two parties working together in a cycle of formal research
and technological development that has already produced some fantastic results:
from the cladding systems for the CityLife residences in Milan to the Pinnacle
installation for Cersaie - Bologna Water Design 2013, the new series of Fractile
ceramic tiles and even the spectacular cladding of the Vanke Pavilion at Expo 2015,
with further façades for notable buildings in several foreign capitals currently in
progress.

Casalgrande Ceramic Crown bears an unusual three-dimensional structure that
experiments with innovative new uses for the latest generation of ceramic parts. Clad
entirely with Fractile porcelain stoneware tiles with a raised fractal motif, the structure
surges upwards with a spiral measuring 25 metres in height. The shape is pure
compositional expression and emphasises the verticality of a sort of volumetric
projection that combines an almost hand-sketched feel with unrivalled construction
expertise to show that an ecologically friendly, flexible material such as porcelain
stoneware can be used in even the most unexpected context.
Devised as a ventilated façade anchored to an extremely slender, sleek steel
structure, The Crown is destined to become a new architectural benchmark in the
area around the Casalgrande Padana headquarters.

The inauguration ceremony was held on Saturday 17 October 2015 on the
roundabout between Via Filippo Turati and Via Pedemontana in Dinazzano, with
participation from Daniel Libeskind, Casalgrande Padana president Franco
Manfredini, Casalgrande mayor Alberto Vaccari and a host of other representatives
from the institutions.